OLYMPIC GOLDEN GIRLS LEAD FINA/ARENA WORLD CUP CAMPAIGN

Canberra, September 30: Beijing golden girls Kylie Palmer and Bronte Barratt will be joined by a new breed of boys and an old familiar face on the Telstra Dolphins 2008 FINA/ARENA World Cup teams announced by Swimming Australia today.

The teams will contest seven meets between October 10-12 in Belo Horizonte in Brazil and Berlin (November 15-16) with Sydney hosting the third leg at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on October 25 and 26. 

The Sydney meet, to be presented by Telstra, will also feature Tunisia's Olympic gold medallist Oussama Mellouli - the man who spolit Grant Hackett's 1500m party in Beijing and Sweden's freestyle sprint star Stefan Nystrand.

Beijing Olympians Sophie Edington (Kingscliff, NSW) and Christian Sprenger (Commercial QLD) will start the Cup campaign in Belo Horizonte and Durban alongside rookies Jackie Staples (Norwood, SA) and Kyle Richardson (Commercial, QLD) before returning to line up in Sydney.

Barratt and Palmer, who together with Stephanie Rice and Linda MacKenzie scored one of the upset wins of the Games in the 4x200m freestyle relay, will be joined by dual Olympian and 2008 FINA World Short Course  Championship success story Felicity Galvez and Sydney boys Tom Miller (Cranbrook Eastern Edge) and Mitchell Patterson (Warringah Aquatic) on the team for the Singapore leg (November 1-2).

Added to the Singapore team by the VIS will be Athens Olympian, comeback girl Marieke Guehrer, who will later join Olympic relay silver medallist Ashley Delaney (Nunawading, VIC) for the European legs to Moscow (November 8,9) Stockholm (November 12,13) and Berlin (November 15-16).

Rickard and Guehrer will be joined by Sydney University butterfly star Matthew Jaukovic, all-rounder Robert Hurley (Wests Illawarra Aquatic, NSW), Queensland butterfly stars Chris Wright and Amy Smith and Victoria's World Short Course breaststroke silver medallist Sarah Katsoulis in Europe.

Richardson, Miller, Patterson, Jaukovic, Wright and Hurley been rewarded with places after delivering a dose of new look "man power" to the Telstra Australian Short Course Swimming Championships in Melbourne last week.

All six represent the next generation of Australian males with bigger things on their minds - delivering a string of personal best times just a month after Australia's history-making 20-medal haul in the pool at the Beijing Games.

Australia's National Head Coach Alan Thompson is excited about the new mix.

"To have a sprinkling of Olympians mixed with the stars of last week's Australian Short Course and an established swimmer of the calibre of Marieke Guehrer makes for an exciting group," said Thompson.

"The performances of Miller and Jaukovic, coupled with the feats of Hurley and Wright, who also swam so well at the Olympic Trials and Telstra Grand Prix makes for a great start for these boys.

"It will also be good to see them all swimming at the Sydney meet in front of our home crowd."

The Telstra Dolphins FINA/ARENA World Cup teams are:

BELO HORIZONTE, (October 10, 12), DURBAN, (October 17,18): Sophie Edington (Kingscliff, NSW), Jackie Staples (Norwood, SA), Christian Sprenger (Commercial, QLD), Kyle Richardson (Commercial, QLD), Marieke Guehrer (Melbourne Vicentre, VIC/VIS). Coach: Bernie Mulroy.

SINGAPORE (November 1, 2): Bronte Barratt (Albany Creek, QLD), Kylie Palmer (Albany Creek, QLD), Felicity Galvez (SOPAC Swim Club, NSW), Mitchell Patterson (Warringah Aquatic, NSW), Tom Miller (Cranbrook Eastern Edge, NSW), Sam Ashby (Carey Aquatic, VIC/VIS), Kelly Stubbins (Haileybury Waterlions, VIC/VIS). Coaches: Alan Thompson (Head Coach), Steve Alderman, John Rodgers. Angelo Basalo (NSWIS), Rohan Taylor (VIS).

MOSCOW (November 8,9), STOCKHOLM (November 12,13), BERLIN (November 15,16): Matthew Jaukovic (Sydney University, NSW), Chris Wright (Commercial, QLD), Ashley Delaney (Nunawading, VIC), Robert Hurley (Wests Illawarra Aquatic, NSW), Marieke Guehrer (Melbourne Vicentre, VIC), Amy Smith (St Peters Western, QLD), Sarah Katsoulis (CA Tritons, VIC). Sally Foster (Central Aquatic, WA/AIS), Alice Mills (Chandler, QLD/AIS). * Sophie Edington (Kingscliff, NSW) will attend Stockholm and Berlin. Coaches: Alan Thompson (Head Coach), Steve Alderman.